Syrian Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister Ayman Sousan said that contacts with the Kurds have intensified in the recent time "in the face of aggressive and expansionist threats from Turkey"

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MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. /TASS/. Syria’s government has never stopped dialogue with the Kurds who are full-fledged citizens of the country and an integral part of the nation, Syrian Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister Ayman Sousan said on Sunday.

He said that contacts with the Kurds have intensified in the recent time "in the face of aggressive and expansionist threats from Turkey."

"The current situation requires consolidation of all Syrians to defend national sovereignty. That is why dialogue with the Kurds is necessary and useful," he stressed, adding that the Kurdish statements are positive concerning their support to Syria’s unity.

According to Sousan, contradictory signals are coming from Washington regarding its plans to withdraw its troops from Syria. "In any case, the United States’ military presence in Syria was illegitimate from the point of view of international law and was seen by us as occupation and aggression," he said.

US President Donald Trump said on December 19 that the United States had defeated ISIS (Islamic State, a terrorist organization banned in Russia) in Syria, which was the only reason for the US troops being there, so all US troops would be pulled out of Syria. According to US officials, the US would withdraw its entire force of 2,000 service members from Syria within 60 to 100 days. Along with this, the Pentagon stressed that the campaign against Islamic State was not over and that the United States would continue working with their partners and allies to defeat the terror group.

By now, according to the Al-Hadath television channel, a total of 150 US troops and ten pieces of military hardware have been pulled out of Syria.